Page 5 - EurOil Week 08 2022
P. 5
EurOil COMMENTARY EurOil
Italy looks to shield consumers
from high gas, power prices
Governments across Europe have taken similar steps amid the energy crisis
ITALY ITALY’S government has passed a new decree simplified procedure for geothermal projects
that seeks to contain prices for electricity and with capacities of below 2 MW.
natural gas for companies and households, in The government is also taking aim at fraudu-
an attempt to shield them from the energy crisis lent operations during the transfer of bonuses of
unfolding in Europe. renewable development. These credits will now
The decree has a value of €8bn ($9bn), of be issued a maximum of three times and only to
which €5.5bn would go towards reducing energy banks, insurance companies and financial inter-
bills, representing an extension of a €3.5bn sup- mediaries. Transfers cannot be subject to partial
port package that was announced in September assignments after the option is first communi-
and another one in February. It does away with cated to Italy’s revenue agency.
general system charges for domestic consum- Italy is striving to ramp up annual gas pro-
ers with capacity equal or greater than 16 kW, duction to 5 bcm, from the current 3.2 bcm, by
including the users of public recharging stations. enhancing recovery in the Sicilian Canal and
Furthermore, the government is cutting by the Marche region. The extra supply will go to
5% the VAT and general charges for natural gas-intensive consumers at favourable prices,
gas consumption. It is also extending a partial the government said. Italy will also start requir-
compensation mechanism for energy-intensive ing that its natural gas storage facilities are 90%
companies and provides a €500mn tax credit full at the start of every heating season. And the
to be provided to almost 1,000 gas-intensive country is targeting an increase in synthetic and
companies. biofuel production.
“Electricity and gas bills for businesses Gas and power prices in Europe have soared
increased by about €21bn year on year across in recent months amid a sharp rebound in
the fourth quarter,” Economy and Finance Min- energy demand following the easing of coro-
ister Daniele Franco commented. “We expect to navirus restrictions and constraints with global
reduce this margin to nearly €14-15bn for the supply. This has prompted many governments to
next quarter.” introduce support measures to protect vulnera-
Further funds will go towards building up ble and nationally important consumers.
domestic energy production. The aim is to Italian gas production has steadily fallen
accelerate the deployment of renewable energy over the past decade, in part because of opposi-
by introducing a single simplified authorisa- tion to development and excessive bureaucracy.
tion procedure for solar photovoltaic modules Italy even imposed a moratorium on oil and
that are installed on roofs and in agricultural gas exploration in 2019, only to lift it two years
areas with capacities of up to 200 kW, and a new later.
Week 08 23•February•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P5
